What is a Customer vs a Partner?
When making a big technology purchase for your business, there are many facets to consider. Often, there’s a lot of thought put into the “what” of what you’re buying. Does the product have the features you need?
Is it compatible with all of your existing systems? And how much will it cost us? But there are also lots of other factors to consider, one of which is your relationship with company you’re buying from.
Most companies have the typical customer/vendor relationship and operate on the quarterly business cycle. This model comes with a number of benefits, like predictable sales cycles that aim to get you up and running quickly. But the typical quarterly sales cycle also has a number of drawbacks.
By focusing on the short term and accelerating the sales process, you create a lot of disconnects between your two companies. Your salesperson won’t likely take the time to do a lot of pre-sales activities or fully understand your needs. You’ll typically be shuffled off to an engineering team to complete the sales process, then handed off again to a post-sales team once the deal is finalized.
In the customer/vendor model, there is rarely any alignment between the two companies. Customers are often in the dark when it comes to future features and there’s only limited access to the product management team to ask questions about the product roadmap. When renewal time rolls around, many customers find a lot of surprises they weren’t expecting.
For smaller purchases and purchases that don’t involve a lot of complexity, this customer/vendor model can work quite well. But for larger, more complicated products and platforms, companies need to expect more from their vendors.
Why Qrvey Is Different
At Qrvey, we take a different approach as the best embedded analytics software. We don’t even have customers, we only have partners.
In a partner relationship, your vendor isn’t just looking to make a quick sale and move on. Instead, they’re in it for the long haul. The sales process isn’t focused on making the sale, it’s based on the mutual success of both parties.
In fact, the sales process is completely driven by the partner’s needs and timetable. By fostering an ongoing relationship rather than a limited one, there is far more collaboration on the product roadmap and partners are often actively involved in the decisions of where the product goes next.
You’ll never be handed off from department to department, instead, you’ll have access to the entire product team, including the people who started your relationship and know your company the best. There aren’t ever any surprises, because both sides always know exactly where the other stands. This is because as partners, both sides are working together.
Unlike customer relationships, partner relationships are based on the long-term, mutual success of both parties, a simple truth that both companies will come to depend on as their business grows.
Category | Customer/Vendor Relationship | Partner Relationship |
---|---|---|
Sales Process | High pressure, focused on quarterly sales goals. | Low pressure, focused on long-term success. |
Evaluation | Limited in scope. Narrow needs analysis. | Broad scope. Thorough needs analysis. |
Pre / Post Sales | Isolated. Multiple departmental handoffs. | Continuous. The right contacts are always available. |
Product Roadmap | No collaboration. | Extensive collaboration. |
Renewals | Mostly vendor controlled. | Collaboratively agreed upon. |
Lockdown | Yes. Multi-year contracts. | No. Opt out at any time. |
Business Model | Many customers. Quantity matters. | Only select partners. Quality matters. |
What is the Difference Between a Client and a Customer?
Imagine a bustling restaurant where two distinct figures play crucial roles: the regular diner and the event planner.
The customer is like the regular diner who walks into the restaurant. They come in for a meal, enjoy the service, pay the bill, and leave. While they expect quality food and good service, their relationship with the restaurant is more transactional. They might return if they liked the experience, but their commitment ends once their meal does.
On the other hand, the client is like the event planner who books the restaurant for a series of events over several months. This relationship is more collaborative and ongoing. The restaurant and event planner work closely together to ensure each event is a success, discussing menu options, decor, and logistics. There’s a partnership where the restaurant might tailor their services to meet the unique needs of the event planner, fostering a deeper, long-term relationship built on trust and mutual benefit.
In essence, while both customers and clients are vital to the restaurant, the customer enjoys a fleeting, one-time interaction, whereas the client engages in a continuing collaboration that evolves over time.

David is the Chief Technology Officer at Qrvey, the leading provider of embedded analytics software for B2B SaaS companies. With extensive experience in software development and a passion for innovation, David plays a pivotal role in helping companies successfully transition from traditional reporting features to highly customizable analytics experiences that delight SaaS end-users.
Drawing from his deep technical expertise and industry insights, David leads Qrvey’s engineering team in developing cutting-edge analytics solutions that empower product teams to seamlessly integrate robust data visualizations and interactive dashboards into their applications. His commitment to staying ahead of the curve ensures that Qrvey’s platform continuously evolves to meet the ever-changing needs of the SaaS industry.
David shares his wealth of knowledge and best practices on topics related to embedded analytics, data visualization, and the technical considerations involved in building data-driven SaaS products.
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